Massacre that led to Friends: Actress Lisa Kudrow discovers her family's brutal past

Friends star Lisa Kudrow, 45, stars with Emma Roberts (niece of Julia) as an evil foster mother in new comedy Hotel For Dogs. The actress's other films include The Opposite Of Sex, Analyze This and P.S. I Love You.

Kudrow lives in Los Angeles with her husband, businessman Michel Stern, and their son Julian, ten.

Is there a conflict between work and motherhood? Do you ever feel guilty?

Yes, definitely. When I was working away from home for a couple of months recently, it was really hard being separated from Julian. I lovewhat I do, but that killed a big chunk of the enjoyment for me, even though we talked every day on the phone. Julian was fine, though, as his father was with him. He is old enough to realiseI wasn't abandoning him, I was just working.

You play a really mean mum in Hotel For Dogs. Was that fun?

It was great. I think I was a bit too mean, but I was just very good at it. In the film, I won't let my foster kids have dogs, so they adopt one and, to protect it - and the other dogs they end up rescuing - they take over a vacant building and turn it into a hotel for the animals to live in.

People say working with animals is extremely hard work. Did you enjoy it?

I prefer acting with people, but working with the dogs was fun. There's one scene in the kitchen where I’m cooking, and the dog is eating the food I'm preparing without me noticing, and I had to pretend not to see him. I thought I did a really good job of it, and so I went home and told my husband how proud I was of my work. Those are the kind of stupid things I pat myself on the back for as an actress.

Your TV production company is involved in a US version of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? What attracted you to the project?

It's a fantastic idea. I love the British series and it's exciting doing our own version, for NBC. I think people in the UK will enjoy it, too. They'll be very interested in the famous people taking part - Sarah Jessica Parker and Susan Sarandon have been confirmed as subjects.

You are one of the subjects. What was it like tracing your roots?

I'm actually the first subject. I travelled to Eastern Europe, to a little village in Belarus, not far from Minsk, to trace my family tree. It was very moving. I found out about members of my family who were killed in the Holocaust. I went to the village where my grandmother grew up, and to be there and see where she lived was amazing. I spoke to a 94-year-old woman who was there during the massacres. My parents were first-generation Americans (her grandmother fled to the US following the massacre of tens of thousands of Jews just after World War I). And to me it's fascinating when you start putting your ancestors' lives in a historical context, and find out how they were forced to make big decisions that made the difference between dying and living.

How did the trip affect you?

It is hard to describe; the experience went beyond my expectations. I find it so interesting because these events in the past form the path a family takes ever after. It has a lot to do with who we are and the decisions we take even now. If everything had been perfectly wonderful in Belarus, then my grandmother's familywouldn't have tried so hard to get her out in 1921 - and I wouldn't be here now.

Was it one of the most challenging things you have done?

It was. I don't tend to show my emotions, but with something like this you can't help but get upset. There were some things I found very difficult. In America, when you're buying a house, they have to tell you whether someone died in it, because you might not want to buy it. But in many other places around the world, that's notpossible - it's a graveyard of people who've been murdered. It was hard for me to deal with all of that while my family were so far away in LA, but on the whole it was an amazing experience. And I certainly got a little more insight into family members who I remember, but aren't with us any more. I can see the things that informed their quirkiness or difficulties, and I can be a little more forgiving towards them.

Did it make you appreciate your own life?

I have nothing but appreciation. I always felt grateful, but now my gratitude is on a different level. It's only by a few decades that I missed being slaughtered myself, so I feel pretty lucky.

On a lighter note, do you mind always being associated with Phoebe from Friends?

No, I think it's great because she was such a happy person. I am so pleased that I was part of the show. I always thought, once the series was over, it would fade from memory. I keep expecting that to happen but it doesn't - there are all these kids around the world who are discovering the show, and realising how funny it is. I don't think there are that many good sitcoms around any more.

Do you think there will be a Friends movie?

I think we are all of the opinion that it would depend on the script, but I've always felt that if everyone else was going to do a movie, then I wouldn't want to be the person who refused and then had to be replaced - that wouldn't be fair. So I would do it, but I've no idea how the show would translate to a movie.

They did it successfully with Sex And The City, so why not with Friends?

But it's not like Sex And The City. Friends was a multi-camera show filmed in front of an audience, so it has a very different feel. It would be tricky to pull off, sure, but if it could be done, that would be great.

Do you hang out with the rest of the Friends cast?

No, I don't see them much. I miss them because doing the show was fun for all six of us, and I laughed a lot. We're trying to get together soon - not on camera, just for dinner.

Is acting still enjoyable, post-Friends?

Yes, I love it. It’s fun to be someone else - and to be able to lie without getting in trouble.

Hotel For Dogs is in cinemas on 13 February.

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Massacre that led to Friends: Actress Lisa Kudrow discovers her family's brutal past